When Ottawa announced a national carbon price in October, Notley said there was no way Alberta would support it unless there was movement on pipeline approval.

The province already had its own carbon plan, she said, a “made-in-Alberta” plan that wouldn’t be dictated by Ottawa.

That plan sees a $20 per tonne carbon price kick in Jan. 1, rising to $30 per tonne at the beginning of 2018.

Now that the Trudeau government has approved Kinder Morgan Canada’s plan to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline and Enbridge’s plan to replace its Line 3 pipeline, Notley said Wednesday Alberta’s caveat has been met.

“We needed assurances our economy had the capacity to grow and improve so we could afford the impact of that kind of pricing on the economy,” she told reporters from Ottawa. “That has now happened.”

Furthermore, Notley said, her government never indicated that the carbon price would top-out at $30 per tonne.

“Most people who talk about effective carbon pricing acknowledge that as time progresses, it needs to go up, but it needs to be done slowly,” she said.

That’s reflected in the timeline for carbon pricing in Alberta, which won’t rise to $50 per tonne until the rest of the provinces catch up under Ottawa’s plan.

Official Opposition leader Brian Jean said that very point only emphasizes why the impending carbon tax in Alberta should be scrapped, relying instead on the federal plan.

“It seems that would make the most sense, at least for a competitive environment in Canada,” Jean said Wednesday.

“Of course, we still have to worry about our greatest competitor, which is the U.S., which doesn’t have a carbon tax. So from our perspective, we think the carbon tax should be abolished altogether.”

Vocal opposition to the pipelines is already at the fore, resulting in questions over whether the pipelines will be built in a timely manner, if at all.

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